Nigeria has reportedly reached an agreement to divide Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245 into four new oil blocks to be operated by Eni and Shell.
Gatekeepers News reports that according to Reuters, the arrangement could finally determine the future of the long-contested oilfield, which has been at the centre of one of Nigeria’s most high-profile corruption trials in the petroleum sector.
The report said the agreement clears the path for the development of OPL 245 — one of Nigeria’s largest deepwater reserves — which has remained untapped for nearly three decades due to protracted legal disputes spanning multiple jurisdictions.
Quoting an anonymous source, Reuters said final contracts related to the deal are expected to be signed beginning Monday.
Eni and Shell declined to comment on the development. Shell and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
OPL 245 Controversy
The history of OPL 245 dates back to April 9, 1998, when the federal military government awarded the oil block to Malabu Oil and Gas Ltd. The company was reportedly owned largely by Mohammed Abacha and Dan Etete, who served as petroleum minister at the time.
On July 2, 2001, former President Olusegun Obasanjo revoked Malabu’s licence and reassigned the block to Shell without a public bidding process. Malabu challenged the decision in court, and ownership was restored to the company in 2006 following an out-of-court settlement with the federal government.
Shell subsequently initiated arbitration proceedings against Nigeria. However, after Goodluck Jonathan assumed office in 2010, the dispute appeared to be resolved when Shell and Eni agreed to acquire the oil block from Malabu for $1.1 billion. The companies also paid a $210 million signature bonus to the federal government.
The transaction later sparked international scrutiny, with activists alleging that the OPL 245 deal was fraudulent and that funds from the $1.3 billion acquisition were used to bribe government officials.
In March 2021, a Milan court acquitted Eni, Shell, and several individuals of corruption charges linked to the acquisition, ruling that there was no case to answer. The decision was upheld on appeal and became final in 2022.
The Nigerian government said it was surprised and disappointed by the verdict and indicated it would consider further legal options.
In Nigeria, the federal government in 2021 withdrew its $1.1 billion civil suit against Shell after discontinuing a similar case against Eni.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Adoke, Nigeria’s former attorney-general, was prosecuted domestically over the deal but was later discharged and acquitted by a federal high court in Abuja.
